Man caught with air pistol in luggage at Leeds Bradford Airport

A man sparked a security alert at Leeds Bradford Airport after being caught carrying an air pistol in his luggage.

Tahir Mahmood, 35, was arrested at the airport in May this year after staff spotted the weapon in his luggage shortly before it was to be loaded onto a flight to Islamabad.

Mahmood told police he had bought the air pistol at a car boot sale in the UK and planned to take it to Pakistan with him as it was not possible to buy the weapons there. He said his planned to use the pistol to shoot pigeons with his friends.

Mahmood, of Kensington Street, Bradford, plead guilty to having a dangerous article in an aerodrome. Leeds Crown Court heard the offence comes under the Aviation Security Act.

The judge told Mahmood he would have been facing a more serious sentence if he had been carrying the weapon in his hand luggage. He said: “The public are rightly concerned with the dangers of anyone boarding an aircraft with such an article in their possession, even in their hold luggage.”